Bubble cap and holddown device



Sept. 30, 1952 c. 1 HAYNEs ET AL l v2,612,360

BUBBLE CAB AND BoLDDowN DBVICB I F11ed Feb. 1, 1947 2 SHEETS- SHEET 1 fs' n CHA/zfsL HAV/V55, V2.9 Aff/Vey l/I( 5455/?, HZ-6'. 2. Bnventor attorney.

Patented Sept. 30, 1952 fornia.

inbragzalii.;V asconporation ofzGali- 2 -Claims This-'invention relates ^`to bubble columnsof'A the type employed in the processing of hydrocarbons and is Aparticularly'directed to animprove'd bubblercap-and holddown'-meansl therefor'ior-use on fa-bubble column tray.

The 4principal"objects lof this invention are-'to vprovidef .a1-bubble 'capand' riser assembly which may' beassembled`- andremoved from the top-4 of fthe'l tray, `using-onlyh the simplest of' tools.

Another vobj ectisl to 0provide `such* riser assembly-which may be removed after a Aperiodofservice'without requiring that anyparts thereof be uri-threaded.

. and `riser. assembly-in :which the tcapiehasanin-v clinedl surface. for. cooperation-'with yaa' wedge insertablemetWeen-the cap and aneabutmentone holddown elementwhich 4extends through. the

Cap.

.It is. another object to, provide an arrangement of this' type.` in'4 which 'the holddown. .elementis secured against' upward" movement 'by memberwhich'extends under thetray an anchor Tina posi- -tion b elowf several'rcap and riser assemblies.

.fAnother:='object 1Vis'toprovide a holddown" dedinal slot extending from itssinal-liend.

a? longitu- Various. other :objects andsadvantageousiieaytu-resrofthis invention maybe had; fromithe'ifol- .lowing.,description,-x andonefrembodiment 'thereof may be seen `fin `v.the f`vaccompanying Ldrawings wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts,and wherein: 1Figure 1" 'is a;diagramma'atie vse'ctiona L, elevation of a: portion" of; a" bubbl'ef tower showing.. cap..,and A'riser -assembliesrmountedon "bubble traysin; the tower andfcap andriser assemblies ,onithe' .trays -'comprisingapreferred4v embodiment of .thislin- 45 venton v Y fFigure 2 isA a" sectionalzplan 4View .off

, shown inlFigurel;

ftheldeyice '1`fFigure13-`shows= a' sectional: elevation ofv a. cap aandrser assemblyo afpreferred ty'pe, and' illus- .tratedfonan enlarged scale;

'Figure 511s a-` -fperspectiveyiew showing; ajprel'forusehin Figure 56is1a perspectivefview 'showingiamodi- Figuref'lis .av'perspectivei View. 'showingaaiurrFigure'tv' is" a1 sectional -elevation apartly:` broken f-awa'y Vfshowing sa modiiied ilforrn of .hol'dd'cwn device; i. 1

, Figure@ :isg a' :sectional eelevationiipartlyibroken l away flillustrating. f. a modified.7 formi of. riser Yem- 1 ployed in connection withithis invention.

"I fReferringito thefdrawingspa .bubblecoluinn I E! vis provided #with the zrusual @horizontal 'ububble 'ltraysii I I ,ff I-223-and 1I Brand; secured aonfl theseltrays 15 are :cap.andirisenassemblies generally designated upper .endsr serve fito.: convey -uid lXdownwardly f-.fromzeachitrayfto the:trayitherebenealth.

Aw shelffl 'ltcfsecure'd ein':thecbubbletower1` Itiby any z'conyenientlmeans;- such as welding@ I 8;: eX- ltends aroundllthe .innerzperipheryiof' fthe tower .110 and?.alongthezside:'ofzlthez'dowrrpipe'l 5. cOne .of'r-these ishelves I 'Il iscprovidedizfor each* y of: .the bubble trays." I I ,flzfI Zand; VI 3. ".Theperipheraliedge @peach-1..trayrextendsizoverf the r. shelfy v t0 f-support 25thentrayA against gravity. Acpluralityaof :openv'ings i 1I Sir-are iproyidedllthrougheach1tray;.and:,the

feapfand' frisert assemblies arer positioned :over these openings. Sincefllthe .cap 1 and: 'riseriassembliest on each of the trays are substantiallyvzduplicates,

be oflanyconvenient;Y orldesirablez shape and; as

shown in 4the ffdrawin'gs, comprises a 4:. generally i0 v"cylindrical'-element#extending upwardly from the 'substantially'horizontal surface 22 fv the-tray I I. Abubble'fcap 2 3 in the" form ofy anifinvertedy cup is; positioned" concentri'cal'ly with respectto the 'riserf 20i1and is carried'th'ereby by a lplurality of .supporting clips""24."xed with the cap23. The .clips contactrthe upper edgen25' of the'riser 20 to hold the' cap'in' concentric relationv aswellasto maintain "it at lthe propertelevation Avseries of bof tapering notches. 26 are. provided. around' the pe- 'ripheryof the bubble cap'..23`.adjacent its, lower surface.

T Means 'arei'llovided j 'for 'preventing' upward vmovem'entef the capand riser assembly relative 55' to the'tray' I I and;A as'shown on the, drawing,l -this 'means'includes a central hookeb'olt 2 1;. extending plurality of cap and riser assemblies relative toy the tray II. The anchor member 2 9 may be se cured under the tray I I by any convenient means, such as by welding 3U.

The upper end of the hook-bolt21 is slotted,

' slot 3| in the bolt.

4 lowered sulciently to release the engagement be= tween the lower end of the hook-bolt and the anchor rod 219. The entire cap and riser assembly then may be withdrawn upwardly from the bubble tray.

After cleaning or replacement jof defective or corroded parts, the cap and riser assembly may be reinstalled on the bubble tray by first engaging the lower end of the hook-bolt 21 under the anchor rod 29 and then driving a wedge 35 into the It should be noted that the operation of removing and replacing the cap and riser assembly as shown at 3|, and the bottom'of vthe slot is e positioned below the upper surface of the cap 23, as shown in Figure 4. A nut 32 threaded on the upper end of the hook-bolt 21presents an abutn v adapted to be insertedthrough the slot an aperture 3I between the shoulder 33 and the inclined surface 34. The angle of the lower surface 31 onl the wedge is supplementary to the angle of inclination of the surface 34 so that the surfaces 34 and 31 and the surfaces 36 and 33 each contact over a substantial area. f

A longitudinal slot 38 extends from'thesmall end 33 of the wedge member 35 to a position between the abutment 33 and the inclined surface 34 so that upon driving the wedge transversely of the hook-bolt 21 toward locking position or upon threading the nut 32 downward on the hook-bolt 21, additional 'resilience over the inherent resilient material of the wedge 35 is'obtained between the abutment 33 and the inclined surface 34. This resilience or springiness acts in the nature of a lock washer to prevent disassembly of the parts upon vibration, such as may occur during shipment. Furthermore, the wedge 35 may be retained against disassembly by deflecting one of the upper or lower fingers 40 and 4I which are separated by the slot 33. The wedge 35ispreferably constructed of steel or alloy steel which will permit deformation of the fingers 43 and 4i without fracture.

In the operation of the device, fluid admitted After a period of use the parts may become.V

corroded or coke-like deposits may build up. When .the extent of corrosion or build vupof deposits reduces theefiiciency. of the bubble tower below an acceptable limit, the operation of the tower is suspended ,for cleaning and repairs.` Corrosion and 4Vdeposits on the exposed Ysurfacesv make it undesirable or impossible to effectany unthreading of the partsforthe purpose of ldisassembly. The nut 32 may be left in itsinitial position and the upper iinger 4t on the wedifge` 35 may be deflected back to approximate parallelism with the lower finger 4I by means of a hammer or other simple tool. The wedge Vmay be withdrawn from the slot by means of a hammer blow .on the small end 330i Athe wedge.- Withutlhe wedge 35 removed, the hook-bolt 21 maybe may be accomplished entirely from the upper side of the particular bubble tray II involved and ,that it is unnecessary to insert or fasten a por- 'tion of the assembly fromthe underside of the tray. A single workman on the upperside of the tray can therefore remove and replace the cap and riser assemblies I4r without assistance from below. f A

The modiiied form of rwedge 42 shown in Figure 6 is formed from a single length ofmaterial folded or doubled at 43 to providea long leg 44 and a short leg 44a. VThese legs liev backto back with vsl'ibstantially no space between them, and may iii) both be inserted as a unitinto the slot 3I in the holddown bolt 21. The upper' surfaces 45 may be substantially horizontal and the surfaces 46 inclined at an angle supplementary to the angle of inclination of the surface 34. The legs 44 and 44a may be spread to prevent displacement after the wedge 42 is in place in the slot 3 I.

The U-shaped wedge 55 shown in Figure '1 is similar to the wedge 42 except that the legs 5t and 555a are spaced by the end member 51. The upper surfaces 58 are horizontal to cooperate with the shoulder 33 and thev lower inclined surfaces 53 are adapted to rest on the inclined surface 34. This modified form of wedge does not require that the hook-bolt 21 be slotted since the wedge passes under the nut 32 and receives the shank of the hook-bolt between the parallel sides 43.

In Figure 9 a modified form of support for the riser is shown. In this modification, the riser 20c is radially expanded along a circumferential line near its lower end to provide a lateral extension 2Ic which will support the riser 23e on the bubble tray I I and prevent the riser 20c from dropping through the opening I9. This integral latera1 extension 2 Ic may be employed instead of the ring`2 I, if desired.

Having fully described our invention, it is to be understood that we do not wish'to be limited to the detailsherein set forth, but our invention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

l. In a cap and riser assembly for a bubble tray, the combination of: a'cap, a holddown element extending upward through an opening in the cap, a downwardly facing shoulder on the holddown element, an upwardly facing inclined surface on said cap, a tapered wedge member insertable between said shoulder and the inclined surface of the cap, the wedgel member having surface contact ywith the shoulder, the wedge vprovidearesilient connection. y

2. In a cap and riser assembly for a bubble tray, the combination of: a cap, a holddown bolt projecting upwardly through an opening in the cap, means to secure the lower end 0f the holddown bolt, a central transverse aperture extending axially of the bolt from the projecting end thereof, a nut threaded on the projecting end of the holddown bolt, an upwardly facing inclined surface on the cap, a tapered wedge insertable through the aperture between the nut and the inclined surface of the cap, the wedge having surface contact with the nut, and a transverse slot in the wedge extending under the full extent of the nut from the small end of the wedge, the slot extending lengthwise beyond the shoulder in both directions to give the Wedge resiliency and thereby to provide a resilient connection.

CHARLES L. HAYNES. HENRY W. BREER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inl the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

